Hildaland Duo-A Fusion of Folk Traditions
Farmington’s Old South Church Concert Series welcomes Hildaland, duo featuring Louise Bichan and Ethan Setiawan as they create a fusion of folk traditions on Friday,November 7 at 7pm. Doors open at 6:30pm. Until 2pm the day of the concert tickets are available online with a small processing fee www.farmingtonucc.org/events or reserved by calling 207-491-5919. Tickets will be available at the door as space allows. General admission tickets are $25, Seniors (65+) $20 and Students (12 y/o +) $15. College students are required to present current school ID. The 235 Main Street entrance is handicapped accessible.
A contemporary collage of Scottish and American traditional music, Hildaland approaches geographic borders as markers of exploration rather than boundaries to be wary of. Fiddle player Louise Bichan, originally from Orkney, Scotland, and mandolinist Ethan Setiawan, originally from Goshen, Indiana, have taken their duo from traditional Scottish roots through to progressive bluegrass and jazz, with music inspired largely by places and the journeys between them, both physical and musical.
Bichan and Setiawan met during their time at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. Setiawan has made a name for himself as a virtuosic mandolin player, winning the National Mandolin Championship, and performing with the likes of Darrell Scott and Julian Lage. Bichan says, “Ethan always has really interesting musical ideas, and takes things in directions I wouldn’t think to go. He writes brilliant tunes, which are often challenging and push me out of my comfort zone, which I appreciate.” Bichan is an award-winning fiddle player, who appeared on the BBC and at the Edinburgh Castle and Cambridge Folk festival among many other places. “Louise has a beautiful sense of melody and harmony. She often comes up with ideas that seem perfect, and so totally not what I would have come up with. She plays with a lot of drive and derives beautiful arcs of storytelling within a melody” explains Setiawan.
Bichan and Setiawan began making music together as part of a four-piece outfit, Corner House. Now the two instrumentalists have taken the opportunity to see what a stripped-down duo sound can manifest in the form of their project Hildaland. Their debut album “Sule Skerry” is a collection of traditional tunes reworked, some original tunes, and a few songs, which” act as accents to an instrumental piece of work.”, explains Bichan. Setiawan and Bichan both penned original tunes that appear on the collection. Their new EP, “Fiddle Tunes”, finds the pair in pure instrumental form, exploring the many possibilities of context for the international language of fiddle music.
Louise, accompanied by several musicians, brought her special family multi-media project to Old South Church in 2024 featuring a retelling of her grandmother’s travel from Scotland across Canada prior to choosing one of two men she would eventually wed through readings, on screen pictures sprinkled with Scottish music.
While Hildaland currently call New England home, they maintain a strong connection to the music scene in Glasgow. “We have been lucky to be able to travel back to Scotland fairly often in the past couple of years and plan to continue doing so. We often find ourselves in the Glasgow pubs playing Scottish, Irish, Scandinavian, and even old-time with friends old and new,” says Bichan. Regardless of their physical or musical location, the duo has an unmistakable sound. In defining their goal within traditional music and refining the scope of their musical territory, Hildaland has honed in on a specific, innovative, and beautiful voice as a band.
Music industry quotes:
“The interplay between the mandolin and the violin is absolutely wonderful to behold”-Steve Edge, the Roque Folk Club
“Bichan and Setiawan explore the oft-hidden corners of musical quietude:-Dorotha Samaha, the Provincetown Independent
“Ebullient interplay”-Michael Witthaus, the Hippo
“A perfect meeting of different musical worlds”-Celtic Music Radio
“Outstanding…powerfully played”-Alex Monaghan, Folkworld
“a captivating fusion of folk traditions”-Tradfolk
To learn more about Hildaland and to view videos visit: www.hildaland.com
If there is no sponsor for sound and lights a monetary will be taken during the concert. Old South Church’s portion of ticket sales helps support community service, outreach projects and youth programs.
The next Old South Church Concert Series performance will be a Christmas concert on Friday, December 12 with Cape Breton’s internationally acclaimed band, Coig who comes to Farmington for their 11th year of supporting the ECU Heat Share Fuel Assistance fund raising efforts.
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